A device of this type has become known from DE 44 37 895 C1. The intensity of oxygen production is controlled in the prior-art device by the deflection of the oxygen generated within a chemical-filled cartridge housing from the area of the unspent chemical into the area of the spent chemical. This effect is based on the fact that deflecting the oxygen into the area behind the reaction front decelerates the chemical reaction, because the spread of the dusts and gases generated during the reaction, which act as a catalyst, to the unspent chemical is hindered. Delivery lines are connected to the cartridge housing at opposite points, namely, at the activation point and at a reaction end point, which is the last to react, and among these delivery lines, at least the delivery line leading from the reaction end point is provided with a throttling point. Depending on the opening cross section of the throttling point, more or less oxygen is deflected into the area of the spent chemical. An especially uniform flow of oxygen can be set by means of a double diaphragm valve, which is connected to the delivery lines and is controlled as a function of the pressure building up in the interior space of the cartridge housing. The pressure in the interior space of the cartridge housing is measured with a line that opens into the interior space of the cartridge approximately in the center of the cartridge housing.
Uniform release of oxygen can be set with the prior-art device during the thermal decomposition of the chemical. However, there are applications in which a predetermined profile of the release of oxygen is required, i.e., it must first increase and then decrease, or the release of oxygen must be high at a first step and the oxygen production must then be reduced in a second step. Even though such a profile would be able to be generated with the prior-art device by setting different set points in advance, this would be linked with a rather high circuit complexity.